The song “the grudge” by Olivia Rodrigo is on her second studio album, GUTS, released in 2023. It hit over 300 million streams and is in her top 20 of most streamed songs. The melody in this song is melancholic, while the lyrics express emotional turmoil and betrayal. 

“I have nightmares each week bout that Friday in May

One phone call from you and my entire world was changed

Trust that you betrayed,

Confusion that still lingers,

You took everything I loved and crushed it in between your fingers”

These lyrics beautifully illustrate a reoccurring nightmare the singer experiences that rendered them experiencing emotions of betrayal, confusion, and hurt. These lyrics may resonate with many listeners who have experienced having a special person in their lives that they cared about so deeply, and then in a matter of seconds, this person behaves in a way that completely shatters this image once held of them. The only emotions left to feel are confusion as to why this occurred, betrayal as to how someone is capable of doing this to them, and hurt as one would never think someone once cared for so deeply would intentionally hurt others like that. 

“And I try to understand why you would do this all to me

You must be insecure, you must be so unhappy

And I know in my heart, hurt people hurt people

And we both drew blood, but man those cuts were never equal”

When left with these feelings of confusion, a common route many individuals want to take is to try and rationalize the events to make sense of it all. By doing so, it may give some answers that they so desperately are attempting to seek out. They may try to see if it is something within that person that caused them to behave in such a manner, as they cannot fathom why one would be so willingly capable of hurting others. “Hurt people hurt people” is a common phrase expressed when justifying these kinds of actions, reminding others not to hold anger towards the people that has hurt others, as they are coming from a place of hurt themselves. Nonetheless, these lyrics express this hurt as undeserved regardless of the place it was coming from. 

Ultimately, Rodrigo beautifully encapsulated the emotions of betrayal, hurt, and confusion into this piece alongside a well-composed melancholic melody. This song has offered comfort to many in times when words could not explain the complicated emotions which were being dealt with. Over the course of many years, this song will continue to be listened to and appreciated by many individuals around the world who feel heard and seen. 

Listen to the song here

Tags: hurt, confusion, betrayal, Olivia Rodrigo, Sounds, grudge, rationalization, melancholy, emotional turmoil, anger

Feature image: Photo by Andrea Cassani on Unsplash